Do you eat ready meals regularly?

[RedRosette2023]

Following from another thread - I heard a statistic the other day that said up to 90% of people regularly consume ready meals. As in, in a plastic container and from the microwave or oven.

I sense that MN is quite middle class so likely not representative of the whole of the country. But I was surprised by that statistic.

I genuinely can’t remember the last time I ate a ready meal. I occasionally gave eldest DC an Ella tray when they were weaning, a meal I could keep in my changing bag and have handy in case we were out over tea time. My youngest refused any pouches etc so he has never had one. He’s always just eaten what we’ve eaten and taught me baby food is totally unnecessary, albeit convenient at times.

I am coeliac so it’s possible my habits have been formed due to necessity - I would struggle to pick up a ready meal I can eat with ease. M&S do some and I think GF ones slightly more available now but I just don’t buy them.

I’m also not a SAHM Mum, I work a pressured job four days, my DH works away mostly during the week, I use hello fresh etc 3-4 days. But I always find time for a meal. My ready meal is something batch cooked out the freezer.

No judgment - just genuinely interested.

Genuine question. Would plain yogurt out of a plastic container then topped with XYZ and served be considered a “ready meal”?

No - it's not a meal at all

If I won the euromillions, I would grow and cook everything I could from scratch - I like all that sort of stuff. I grew up on a farm and most of our food was home produced, and while it was plain, it was organic and always fresh.

My mouth is watering now remembering the homemade brown bread warm from the oven with the freshly made butter and some blackberry jam from the Autumn jam making dolloped on top...

But a full time job and long hours commuting, so while I rarely do ready meals outside of fish fingers, or a frozen pizza, I'll use jars and tins. But I dream of a day where I can simmer down the perfect ragu while the sourdough is proving...

We've a small patch of land that can hold a dozen or so fruit trees along with shrubs and other edible plants and we are slowly building our edible forest. We plan on also getting chickens. We've even honeybees in the cavity wall of the shed that I hope to rehome in a hive in a year or two. I'd also love a goat or two. Not told DH that yet though

Funnily enough, we've a temporary guest who's a vegetarian and also doesn't cook much and everything he eats is ultra processed. I made a few interesting veggie dishes and now he thinks I'm a genius chef. I'm not but he's just not used to home cooked food I think!

Probably not looking at the definition.

Thank you @RedRosette2023 thats reassuring.
mid say it’s so rare I genuinely can’t think of when I’ve purchased any in the last 15-20 years.
when the kids were teens I did buy boxed pizza.

I haven't eaten what you would call a 'ready meal' in a while because I like to do something where myself, DP and DD can have more or less the same, but I do cook stuff from the freezer a fair bit (just had a frozen pizza tonight, for instance.) I cook a few times a week but not every night.

I take one to work once per week. I get 35 minutes and nowhere nearby to go and get something hot. I don’t make big enough meals anymore to save and take as left overs. I used to. But I’m a single parent on a budget with extremely fussy kids who don’t always want the same as me. I got bored of sandwiches and salads for work. Kids don’t eat ready meals though.

We meal prep for week days,and friday nights is always an easy dinner. Some nights that's a take away, some nights it's pizza, steak and salad etc... but I pretty much always let my kids (teens) pick themselves and that is sometimes breaded chicken, kievs or microwave curries. ( *oven cooked because we don't actually have a microwave 🤣) We're all active and healthy gym users. Both myself and my husband track macros, we all eat incredibly healthy etc... but one night a week we just want to veg out and eat rubbish (after sports clubs/work) I really don't think the odd microwave meal hurts anyone, especially given how bad for you some home cooked meals can be! 🤷‍♀️

No. Would rather batch cook. I know what's going in my food, no salt, unhealthy fats or preservatives.

very rarely but on occasion I have used them.

@RedRosette2023
I'm another coeliac. Around twice a year I buy a ready meal (gf ones from M and S or Tesco), eat it and immediately regret it. They just taste fake to me. I'd rather just have scrambled eggs if I'm pushed for time or unwell. I hate things on plastic trays anyway - perhaps one day we'll find out that even 'safe' plastic isn't safe!
I do eat tinned soup occasionally, but everything else is cooked from scratch.

Not anymore as I live in Spain and the ready meals taste bad, but I used to love an M&S ready meal when I lived in London.

Having lived with no kitchen, just a kettle and a microwave, for the last 6 months I've eaten a LOT of them.
I have to say that I felt no ill effects at all, although no idea what, if any, long term effects there may be.
I did lose half a stone due to enforced portion control.

Rarely. My DC don’t consider ready meals or freezer things to be real food … only things prepared fresh from scratch count apparently 😂

We never eat them. The last time I tried one was 22-years, the day I moved into a new house and we were knackered. It was a “this isn’t a ready meal, it’s a Marks and Spencer ready meal”. It didn’t even taste like food. After a couple of mouthfuls, it went into the bin 😮

Never had the time to batch cook - when DT’s were younger we didn’t get home from nursery/after school club until 7 and then it’s was a quick meal , some down time in front of the tv before bed.
Don’t know anyone who hasn’t used fish fingers, jars of pasta sauce, potato waffles etc. Only on Mn do people never have prepared meals and only ever cook from scratch. Working full time with long hours is a different world.

We have one a week, on the night my DDs go to their Dad's. I'll have had to commute into the main office, so have spent all day either on the motorway, or in meetings. DP will have also been at work all day, and we both just want to sit down! So we tend to get a microwave risotto or paella to share, and add a big bowl of salad.

I always check the nutritional info. There are far worse diets to have. I'm not going to be sniffy about who prepared it. Besides, it saves me 30-45 minutes on my most hectic day.

Those who eat a lot of ready meals - are they high in calories (genuine question as I rarely eat them, so have no idea). Asking because I'm watching another thread on obesity.

Very rarely. Mostly because I find them really bland.
However, there have been times when I was on tour, with no ability to cook, and ready meals were a cheap alternative to eating out every day.
My brother has his fridge full of ready meals, however!

Haven’t looked at the calories but don’t for any foods as non of us have any weight or health concerns

Totally depends on the meal. Some of them are, and they're packed full of excess sugar and salt. Some of them are nutritionally really good, but taste like crap. Some of them are a nice balance between the two, those are the ones we go for, and we bulk out with salad or vegetables.

I’m not sure I would cook for myself. When my DH works away I often eat yesterdays left overs or something easy. I’ve started saving one portion meals in the freezer for this reason but sometimes I just have toast too. When I was single I didn’t eat a full meal every night. Sometimes I wouldn’t bother at all.

Probably no surprise I was much slimmer then!

Me with my busy life and pressure job. I still find time to cook.
but no judgement…😑ok.

yes, sometimes I do. There are a few that I like. Co-op do a nice ham and mushroom pasta thing. There’s a company called Tân Ddraig who do a really nice chili. So when it’s just me I will sometimes get them because I like them, I have a disability that makes me fatigued as hell and because I can.

All the time.
💁Partner is in the military and not home mon-fri, kids eat hot meals at school and I work 4pm-8pm 3/4 nights a week, so not cooking family meals most evenings.
Depending on finances they are often, healthy delivered meal plan ones though, or if not the gym kitchen or M&S occassionally asda pasta type ones. So yes microwave meals, but a step up from the sodium packed ones.

Lol I was addicted to Pot Noodles in the 80's!!
Since I had my kids ( early 90's) I've never had a ready meal. Would rather add my own herbs/ flavours then E numbers tbh. I'm now 53 and touch wood have led a very healthy life 🙏... I also swear by veg smoothies for breakfast.